Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea: Difference between revisions

← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 03:52, 11 October 2020 editDreamkid05 (talk \| contribs)181 edits Fixed typoTags: Reverted section blanking Mobile edit Mobile web edit← Previous edit		Revision as of 03:53, 11 October 2020 edit undoDreamkid05 (talk \| contribs)181 edits Fixed typoTags: Reverted section blanking Mobile edit Mobile web editNext edit →
Line 1:		Line 1:
	==Contemporary issues==
	Generally modern North Korea-based anti-Japanese sentiment is understood to be largely fueled by propaganda from the government, thus attempts to measure it among ordinary people is impossible given the country's political system. The following statements thus apply to ''South Korea'' only.

	According to Robert E. Kelly, a professor at ], anti-Japanese racism in South Korea stems not just from Imperial Japanese atrocities during the colonial era, but from the Korean Peninsula's division.<ref name=REKelly2015>{{Cite web\|first=Robert E.\|last=Kelly\|url=http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/06/04/why_south_korea_is_so_obsessed_with_japan_108014.html\|title=Why South Korea is So Obsessed with Japan\|date=4 June 2015\|work=Real Clear Defense}}</ref> As most Koreans, north and south are racial nationalists, most South Koreans feel a kinship and racial solidarity with North Korea as a result.<ref name=REKelly2015/> Due to this perceived racial kinship, it is considered bad form for a South Korean to hate North Korea, to run the risk of being called a race traitor.<ref name=REKelly2015/> As a result, Kelly says, South Koreans take out the anger rising from Korean division against Japan.<ref name=REKelly2015/> This view is supported by another professor, ] of ].<ref name=KoreaShrug>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/opinion/28myers.html \|title=South Korea's Collective Shrug \|date=27 May 2010 \|work=The New York Times \|location=New York \|publisher=The New York Times Company \|first=Brian Reynolds \|last=Myers \|authorlink=Brian Reynolds Myers \|accessdate=April 19, 2015\|url-status=dead\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419024409/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/opinion/28myers.html \|archivedate=April 19, 2015 }}</ref><ref name=UnlovedRepublic>{{Cite web\|url=http://asiasociety.org/korea/south-korea-unloved-republic \|first=Brian Reynolds \|last=Myers \|authorlink=Brian Reynolds Myers \|title=South Korea: The Unloved Republic? \|date=14 September 2010 \|accessdate=19 May 2013\|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519065927/http://asiasociety.org/korea/south-korea-unloved-republic \|archivedate=May 19, 2013 }}</ref>

	===Japanese textbook revisionism===
	{{Main\|Japanese history textbook controversies}}

	Anti-Japanese sentiment is also due to the ]. On June 26, 1982, the textbook screening process in Japan came under scrutiny when the media of Japan and its neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by the ]. Experts from the ministry sought to soften textbook references to Japanese aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, was modified to "advance". Passages describing the fall of Nanking justified the Japanese atrocities by describing the acts as a result of Chinese provocations. Pressure from China successfully led the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."<ref>Murai Atsushi, "Abolish the Textbook Authorization System", ''Japan Echo'', (Aug. 2001): 28.</ref>

	In 2006, Japanese textbooks stated that the ] is Japanese territory. This island is ] claimed by both Japan and South Korea. The head of the South Korean Ministry of Education, ], sent a letter of protest to ], the Minister of Education, on May 9, 2007.<ref> {{webarchive \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513180039/http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705100005.html \|date=May 13, 2007 }}, ], May.10,2007.</ref> In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean President ] called for Japan to correct their school textbooks on controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape of ]" to "the Korean ownership of the ]".<ref> {{webarchive \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313210305/http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200703/200703020014.html \|date=March 13, 2007 }}, '']'', Mar.2,2007.</ref>

	==Effects of sentiments==		==Effects of sentiments==
	===Society===		===Society===

Revision as of 03:53, 11 October 2020

Effects of sentiments

Society

A 2000 CNN ASIANOW article described popularity of Japanese culture among younger South Koreans as "unsettling" for older South Koreans who remember the occupation by the Japanese.

In South Korea, collaborators to the Japanese occupation government, called chinilpa (친일파), are generally recognized as national traitors. The South Korean National Assembly passed the special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property on December 8, 2005, and the law was enacted on December 29, 2005. In 2006, the National Assembly of South Korea formed a Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators. The aim was to reclaim property inappropriately gained by cooperation with the Japanese government during colonialization. The project was expected to satisfy Koreans' demands that property acquired by collaborators under the Japanese colonial authorities be returned. Under such conditions, one who has pro-Japanese sentiment seems to try to hide it. According to an anonymous survey done by the BBC in March 2010, 64% of South Koreans are actually supportive of Japan.

While some South Koreans expressed hope that former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama would handle Japanese-South Korean relations in a more agreeable fashion than previous conservative administrations, a small group of protesters in Seoul held an anti-Japanese rallying on October 8, 2009, previous to his arrival. The protests called for Japanese apologies for World War II incidents and included destruction of a Japanese flag.

The United States's ambassador to South Korea, Harry B. Harris Jr., who is of Japanese descent, has been criticized in the South Korean media for having a moustache, which his detractors say resembles those of the several leaders of the Empire of Japan. A CNN article written by Joshua Berlinger suggested that given Harris's ancestry, the criticism of his mustache may be due to racism.

National relations

Yasuhiro Nakasone discontinued visits to Yasukuni Shrine due to the People's Republic of China's requests in 1986. However, former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi resumed visits to Yasukuni Shrine on August 13, 2001. He visited the shrine six times as Prime Minister, stating that he was "paying homage to the servicemen who died for defense of Japan." These visits drew strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly China. As a result, China and South Korea refused to meet with Koizumi, and there were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders after October 2001 and between South Korean and Japanese leaders after June 2005. Former President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.

Education

A large number of anti-Japanese images made by school children from Gyeyang Middle School, many of which depicting acts of violence against Japan, were displayed in Gyulhyeon Station as part of a school art project.

According to a survey conducted by Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center in 2006, 34.1% of the primary school students in the Incheon region answered that "Japanese should be expelled from Korea" the rate was considerably higher compared to Chinese (8.7%), black Africans (8.7%), East Asians (5.0%), black Americans (4.3%), and white Americans (2.3%).